Two-Pack III: Teen Wolf Season Five

by lordtrayus

The Ghost Pack is defeated, and Scott's pack have emerged stronger than ever. However, an insidious new enemy has come to Beacon Hills, the evil Dread Doctors, who will stop at nothing until they have completely exterminated all supernatural life, and the only thing in their way, is Scott's pack...

8. Episode 2: IED Part 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf

Two-Pack III

They'd had better plans. He'd had better plans. After all, it was his plan that had brought down Gerard, it was his plan that had defeated Agravaine. In some ways, Scott was an occasional genius with his plans, in fact, some would say, his plans were quite smart, cunning even.

This plan, however, was not.

Turns out emotionally fuelled panic as his brand-new bitten Beta started to spiral after all that had happened did not breed good plans.

"The bite is a gift, you know? We're brothers now!" Scott told him in a winning voice in the bathroom.

Liam looked at him frantically, his arms and legs bound by packaging tape, and the same across his mouth, looking at his Alpha desperately as he made noises like he was trying to talk but bound as he was, no sound came out. He was lying in the bath, completely unable to move and looking at his Alpha with a mix of panic, fear, helplessness and anger, which was quickly becoming the default emotion as he wriggled to try and get out of the bindings that he had been put in.

Plus side, he was fully recovered from the attack that had almost killed him.

"Ok…I can see you're a bit overwhelmed, I'll give you a minute." Scott promised hesitantly, the look on Liam's face speaking more clearly than words ever could that he was going to kill Scott, and Scott edged out the bathroom and shut the door, leaving Liam making angry noises inside.

Stiles was sitting on the bed, dressed in a tshirt and Burberry hoody as Scott sat beside him, hanging his head as he clasped his hands anxiously.

"So you bit him…you kidnapped him…and you brought him here." Stiles said in a barely restrained voice as Scott looked at the floor, his thoughts going at a mile a minute.

"Yeah…I panicked! Hey, you helped!" he spat, as after Liam had woken up he had called Stiles, who had then provided the getaway car, albeit it had been more because Scott, frantic as he was with an unconscious Beta in a wheelchair, was in no fit state to be argued with.

"Hey, I'm your ride or die, and I thought originally that whoever had attacked him had come back to finish the job, that's why I didn't question it!" he grumbled, shaking his head, then made a thoughtful sound with his lips before looking at Scott out of the corner of his eye, "this isn't going to end with us burying the pieces of his body out in the desert is it?" he asked grimly.

At that comment, Liam's panicked noises grew increasingly louder from the bathroom, even sounding like he was starting to cry a little (which made Scott's heart break a bit), and Scott sharply elbowed his best friend, really, all his time spent with werewolves and coyotes and he didn't remember about the brilliant hearing? But, that was at least more proof that the bite had worked properly on Liam at least.

He had panicked, he hadn't wanted to Alpha Liam when the kid had just woke up, but he was out of control, so he had knocked him out, not knowing what else to do, took him out on a stolen wheelchair and had came here with a flabbergasted Stiles, who had taken to taping the kid up with a little too much enthusiasm as they had laid him in the bath. Damn it, he could face down murderers with ease, why the hell had he made such a mess of this on his first day as Liam's Alpha? Admittedly, maybe they should have put him on a chair instead of in the bath, but by that point, both boys were high on panic fuelled adrenaline, and besides, for being short, he was damned heavy!

Stiles and Scott both looked towards the bathroom where their captive was being held, and Stiles shot Scott a dirty look.

"For the record, this is why I always come up with the plans, your plans suck!" he emphasised, and Scott replied with a look of outrage of his own.

"I know my plans suck, but don't act like you're any better! Your plan to infiltrate Agravaine and make us think you'd betrayed us sucked too!" he snapped, and Stiles winced, yeah, he had a point there, but this didn't help them with their current situation.

"Ok…so what do you want to do?" Stiles asked, as Scott threw up his hands helplessly, and Stiles groaned, kneading the bridge of his nose with his fingers.

Outside, Isaac was just getting back to Scott's after his little overtime shift at the café when his phone rang, and he frowned a little as he saw that it was Melissa. Trying to suppress the momentary panic he felt for a myriad of reasons, he answered.

"Hello?"

"Hello Isaac sweetie, are you at the house?" she asked in a would-be sweet voice, though it sounded as though she was speaking through clenched teeth.

"Yeah, I just got here, why?" he asked nervously, trying to figure out what could possibly have happened, surely if anything had happened to Liam Scott would have told him?

"Ah good, would you be a dear and tell me how many heartbeats are in the house?" she asked in a voice of forced calm, and puzzled, he focused on his hearing.

There was Scott's heartbeat, the one he fell asleep listening to every night, he could tell that one anywhere, then there was Stiles one too, both of them slightly anxiously elevated…and then, that one, the really panicky and upset one, was that Liam?

"Three, I think one's Liam?" he asked in disbelief, and Melissa let out a sigh of relief before turning her attention to the matter at hand.

"Thank god…my idiot son and his idiot best friend kidnapped Liam from the hospital…which actually makes this the second time my son has kidnapped a minor…I'm so proud," she complained in a defeated voice as Isaac tried to process what she had just said.

"WHAT?" he yelped in disbelief, and she sighed.

"Yeah I know, I mean there's some times he's clearly my son, and some times when he is so clearly Rafe's…I could do without those. Alright, let's have a little fun, shall we? Leave me on speaker phone, will you?" she asked in a defeated voice, and still trying to process what the hell was going on, he headed towards the door.

Really, Scott and Stiles had kidnapped Liam, who had barely survived being murdered the night before, had just become a werewolf, from the hospital where his dad worked and had only just found out about the supernatural, and taken him here? The sheer level of moronic stupidity that that required, especially when this was, as Melissa had said, the second time they had kidnapped another kid…why the hell was he in love with this freaking moron?

Ok, he thought, perhaps there's some reasonable explanation, and despite the ever-increasing build-up of rage coursing through his body, he opened the door as calmly as could be.

"Scott, I'm home!" he called up the stair.

Upstairs, Scott and Stiles had been having a whispered argument while Liam had made noises of protests from the bathroom, but all three suddenly went quiet as Scott looked at Stiles in panic and Stiles shrugged helplessly, Isaac was a wild card in this situation, he loved Scott sure, but he did relish in torturing Stiles, and after the whole thing with his dad, he took a rather dim view of anyone who mistreated kids, which kidnapping technically fell under.

"Damn, I forgot he was coming here after work…" Scott whispered before inhaling, "hey honey! Um, don't come up here!" he called down the stairs.

Isaac, stood at the bottom of the stairs, arced an eyebrow while he heard Melissa sigh a little in despair at the other end of the line.

"Um, why?" he asked suspiciously.

Scott felt his level of panic increase even more, as Stiles, most unhelpfully, started to gesture towards Liam's general direction and drawing his finger across his throat, no, they weren't going to kill the kid, it wasn't his fault!

"Um…" what was a good excuse, he couldn't say anything private, after all, Isaac was his boyfriend, he'd seen it all before, but, yes! "Stiles is naked!"

Stiles suddenly stopped gesturing that they should just cut their losses and kill Liam and threw his hands in the air in exasperation, while Scott shrugged.

"What, I couldn't say I was naked, he likes seeing me naked!" he hissed, and Stiles glowered at him.

"Why does anyone have to be naked? Proves my point, your plans suck!" he growled in a low voice.

At the other end, despite the situation, Melissa was now in a fit of hysterical giggles, which, if he wasn't the emergency responder such as it was, Isaac would be joining her in.

"Why is Stiles naked?" he called back icily, edging towards the stairs, but despite the situation, he could hear Liam's heartrate calming down at least, so figured he should ride this out to the end.

Damn, he hadn't thought of that, why would Stiles be naked with his best friend that wouldn't get either of their balls ripped off by a jealous boyfriend…ah!

"His things came back, and he wanted to get my opinion on it!" he called down, wincing a little as Stiles shot him a look of apocalyptic rage and hammered his fist into his shoulder.

"Dude!" he spat furiously, and Scott was fairly sure he heard a muffled snigger coming from the bathroom.

"What thing?" Isaac asked, genuinely curious, and Melissa also made a noise of professional interest.

"We need to find out what thing Stiles had." She concluded, to which Isaac nodded in agreement.

"Just a small problem, I've…" Stiles called, he supposed they might as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb, "I've had it before, no big deal!"

Isaac closed his eyes in dismay, the two leaders of the pack, both equally freaking brainless, at least they were safe if these two just decided to fall to the dark side, they'd be the Team Rocket of evil for god sake, why was he friends with these people, hell, in love with one of them again?

"So, you're up there naked, showing Scott something…and you're subjecting Liam to this…why? Why's he so anxious?" he asked in an increasingly deadly voice as he started to climb the stairs.

Both of them looked at each other in terror, damn, Isaac had werewolf hearing too, what the hell did they answer that one with?

Stiles then clicked his fingers in excitement, the answer coming to him in a flash.

"Liam hasn't seen one this big before!" he boasted proudly, and Scott shot him a very unimpressed look.

"Oh, what, like you're the only one who can make up outrageous claims." He grumbled in response, and Scott rolled his eyes, and there was a disbelieving snort from both the bathroom and the stairs.

"He's seen mine, trust me, he knows what quality is like." Scott sniped, and Stiles looked outraged as the door banged open.

Now, any other time, Scott would find this sight of his boyfriend rather alluring. Dressed in the black tshirt and jeans he wore for work, with a long navy cardigan, his hair a rather stylish attractive mess, a scarf round his neck, and a phone in his hand, he looked, well, hot. However he didn't think even his sexy wiles were going to get him out of the rollicking that they were about to get.

"Really? You expected me to believe that?" he sneered at Stiles, who went red and hung his head as Isaac looked stonily at his boyfriend.

"Hey honey!" Scott said in what he hoped was a winning voice, but Isaac simply arced an eyebrow.

"Where's Liam?" he asked in a cold whisper, and both boys knew they were in for it.

"Um, he's lying down." Stiles replied meekly, and Isaac looked at him worriedly.

"If he's lying down, why isn't he lying down on the bed, which he has one of in the hospital, which is where he should be?" he asked in a voice like silk, and both boys, (Scott was beginning to see why Stiles still had nightmares of Isaac trying to kill him in Eichen), blanched.

"Um, we're sitting on it?" Stiles suggested, and sending them an angry look of disdain, Isaac swept past them to the bathroom, opened the door, and…

Three, two, one…

"OH MY GOD!" Isaac bellowed from the bathroom, both Scott and Stiles wincing as Isaac hastily hung up the phone and slipped it into his pocket, lifting Liam out of the bath.

Standing the kid upright and making sure he was alright, he then, as gently as he could when rage was coursing through him, ripped off the tape Scott and Stiles had bound him with, removing the tape on his mouth last.

"They kidnapped me!" Liam cried without preamble, and Isaac, shaking with fury, nodded, taking Liam by the shoulders.

"Are you alright?" he asked, trying not to Prime Beta the kid, and Liam nodded but looked as though he was still a bit upset and could possibly cry, so Isaac wrapped him in hug and he felt the younger boy calm down.

Which was a feat he wished he could emulate himself.

"Come on, I'm taking you back to your dad." He told him, and Liam followed behind his Prime Beta dutifully as they both emerged from the bathroom to see Scott and Stiles sitting on the bed with their heads hung.

"Seriously, how the hell are you two losers still alive?" Isaac thundered, while Liam sent a smug, mocking smile at both Scott and Stiles from behind him, "I'm taking him back to the hospital. Keys, now!" he barked at Stiles, who looked up in irritation.

"What, no!" he protested, and the entire room shook as Isaac's eyes flashed gold and he roared.

Discretion being the better part of valour, Stiles hastily reached for his keys then threw them at Isaac, trembling a little as Isaac deftly snatched them from the air.

"Come on kiddo." He told Liam, chivvying the younger boy from the room, and after sending a last filthy look at the two sitting on the bed, slammed the door behind him.

The front door then slammed, as did the doors to Stiles' jeep a minute later as the two boys sat on the bed in shame, in fear and in guilt.

"I think we're in trouble." Scott whimpered in a meek voice, and Stiles was forced to agree.

XX

"Are you sure you're alright?" Isaac asked as they reached the hospital, and Liam nodded, rubbing his arms self-consciously.

"Yeah. I know Scott didn't mean to freak me out, he just panicked, and it kind of snowballed. And I am alive, which I wouldn't be if it weren't for him." He said, and Isaac looked at the kid worriedly.

"You know we're not just worried about you physically, it's a big change, you're suddenly a werewolf after something tried to kill you, it's ok to be a little overwhelmed." He told him softly, and Liam shivered.

"He was just this really big guy, but his claws, they weren't claws. They were glowing, and blue." He whispered, and Isaac frowned.

That certainly didn't sound like anything they had encountered before, he would need to check the Bestiary.

"We'll get whoever attacked you squirt, I promise." He said, pulling up at the door, and he and Liam got out the jeep.

"Liam, thank god!" Dr Dunbar cried in relief, hugging his son while Melissa, dressed in her coat and clearly about to go home, looked on thankfully.

"Liam, I'm so sorry, Scott and Stiles are complete idiots!" she complained, and Liam smiled a little and shrugged.

"It's alright, Scott panicked as much as I did I think and everything just got worse." He replied, and Isaac looked apologetically at Dr Dunbar.

"Sorry doc, we usually give a slightly better impression." He said, and David shook his head, chuckling a little.

"Well, no harm done, Liam doesn't seem that bothered, and it's new to both of them, so we'll forget this incident happened shall we? Melissa?" he asked sweetly, and she nodded, smiling evilly.

"Yes we will, after I deal with those two dunderheads." She promised, and he chuckled.

"Well, I didn't tell your mother or your brother that Scott kidnapped you at least, so that's something. Let's give you a check over son, and then we can see about you going home." He told him, and Liam nodded eagerly, he didn't like hospitals much.

"Ok, thanks Isaac." He said and Isaac nodded, looking at the younger Beta in concern.

"Call me if you need anything ok?" he asked softly, and while he wasn't particularly happy with the idea of a brand-new Beta being left alone without any training, he felt it would be pushing it a bit to try and train him after his Alpha had kidnapped him.

He was dating a moron, he seriously was.

Liam nodded eagerly, and figuring the kid was safe enough for now, especially since they were still weeks away from the full moon, he watched as Dunbar led his son away.

"Where are the two reprobates?" Melissa asked, leaning her arm on his shoulder, and he grinned.

"Waiting at home for the axe to fall. Can you drop me off at the loft please? I've already yelled." He told her, and she chuckled.

"Knew I could count on you. Now…what shall I do to them?" she purred darkly, and he laughed.

XX

The three of them were sitting at the kitchen counter, recovering over a coffee after their post party fraught night, as the door opened unexpectedly.

"Hey bro," Camden said as a slightly frazzled looking Isaac entered the flat, and Kaisha set about making him a cup of coffee, "I thought you were going to Scott's?" he asked in confusion, and Isaac sighed as he gratefully accepted the cup from the Djinn.

"I was. But I figured it was best to vacate while Melissa's yelling at him and Stiles." He sighed, and Derek, who had come down to find out if they had seen Braeden who had vanished early doors this morning and had stayed for coffee, looked at him curiously.

"Why, what'd they do?" he asked, sipping his coffee (black, naturally).

Isaac shook his head, a slightly amused smile on his face.

"Well, my idiot boyfriend was waiting for Liam to wake up. When he did, Liam started to freak out, and Scott didn't want to Alpha him when it was his first day on the job. So, instead, he opts to knock him out, and with Stiles help kidnap him, take him back to the house, tie him up and then leave him in the bath, all while having the cheek to tell Liam that the bite is a gift and that they're brothers now." He explained.

As Camden and Kaisha's jaws dropped open in horrified amusement, Derek threw back his head and started to laugh madly, shaking with mirth, he even had tears rolling down his face as they all joined him in laughing, even Isaac.

"I can't believe they did that what were they thinking?" Kaisha asked incredulously as she laughed, she knew Scott and Stiles were wired together slightly differently from most people but she didn't think it was that bad.

"They were panicking, and then Liam also panicked, and nobody thought just to take a minute to stop, and think. Seriously, I'm in love with a moron!" Isaac complained, and Camden sniggered, while Derek continued to laugh, though finally seemed to be regaining his composure.

"Brilliant! I can die a happy man," he wheezed, wiping his eyes, shaking in silent mirth, "can't believe Scott kidnapped someone, again, and this time it was his own damn bitten Beta, and you all thought I screwed up as an Alpha, oh this is classic!"

Isaac, a smile on his face, gave a long-suffering sigh as he got to his feet.

"I'm away to lie down in a darkened room, to reflect on my life choices which has led me to this low point of being in a relationship with a moronic serial kidnapper…or perhaps consider my future as a monk instead." He said, heading through to his room while the others were still chuckling.

"Oh this has to go in the group chat." Derek said with glee, and Kaisha sniggered.

"You realise, as you never post in it, this will get everyone's attention?" she pointed out, and he sent her an evil grin.

"Yes, I know…I'm counting on it." He replied cheerfully, and slightly disturbed by how happy his former Alpha was, Isaac excused himself as he made good his escape, just as the group chat started to ding.

XX

Scott and Stiles hadn't moved from where Isaac had left them, knowing that the axe was going to fall in some way, and that moving wouldn't help much in the long run. However, now the group chat seemed to be going apeshit, which meant someone had blabbed about their little…episode, and now the pack was most likely dragging them for it.

Oh god, facing them all was going to be unbearable, the mocking, the jokes…

The front door then slammed open downstairs, and both boys jumped.

"BOYS!"

"We're dead."

XX

Lydia shook her head in amusement, not quite believing that their sweet, adorable and yet completely idiotic if well meaning Alpha had spent the morning of his first day with his own bitten Beta kidnapping said Beta from the hospital with Stiles' help. Isaac did have a point, how were those two losers still actually alive?

She only hoped Liam would be a bit smarter than his Alpha.

But as she chuckled, as the twins were currently lambasting Scott and Stiles in the group chat, her attention turned to her deck of tarot cards. That reading she had made last night, it unsettled her. Was the Lightning-Struck Tower a reference to what had happened to Liam, or was there some other calamity in the offing?

And more importantly, where the bloody hell was Martagh? She hadn't heard from her in weeks, and scrying hadn't yielded any results either, not that she liked the Banshee method of scrying to begin with.

Her mentor was who she needed to speak to, but she'd heard nothing from her, and despite their protestations to the contrary, she knew perfectly well that both of them had a deep and unyielding affection for each other, so why the hell wasn't Martagh answering her calls, texts, or messages?

And, she mused grimly, if she actually couldn't, what the hell was preventing her from doing so?

XX

"Need a hand?" Parrish asked Valerie as she stared at the board, the eyes of each of the missing persons seeming to stare at her in accusation for not finding out what had happened to them yet.

"I need a break!" she snapped, and Parrish laid a hand on her back, which did serve to calm her slightly.

"Val, you can't keep doing this to yourself, we are going to find them, we'll find them all." He promised, and she turned and looked at him desperately.

"Kyle, you know as well as I do that after this long, the chances of finding them, of finding her alive, are tiny." She complained bitterly, and he rubbed her back consolingly.

"I know, but we can't give up hope Valerie. Now, let me see what you've got so far, see if some fresh eyes might be able to help, give you a break, you need it." He told her, and she passed him everything she had so far that she'd scrawled down, every witness statement she'd made, every false lead.

It all looked so helpless, numerous kids were missing, including her own sister, and she didn't have the slightest clue of how to help her, of how to find her. And with her kidney problems…Val knew she should be optimistic, keep a little bit of hope, like Parrish said. But when she took her sister's condition into account, and the fact that she had been missing for over a month now, she knew that the chances of finding Hayden alive were infinitely small.

She just needed to know where Hayden was, and if she was alive, or if she was…

Where the hell was she, and if someone had her, what the hell were they doing to her?

XX

They were in the Executive Suite, and both the Geneticist and the Pathologist were in attendance, two unfortunates on the operating tables in front of them as they worked.

Turnbull's patient was unconscious, which made him a far more pleasant patient, while Valack found the man somewhat engaging, Turnbull herself found him to be…creepy for want of a better word. She was currently bent over his skull, which she had opened, peering with fascination into his brain.

"Can't you just use Lotusium?" Urbaniak asked mildly as he stood by his patient, who, unlike hers was still awake and was offering that tiresome resistance, it was like they didn't want to help forge a new world, honestly, kids today.

"For any other patient I could yes. However, as he is, to use the scientific term, as nutty as squirrel poo, the Lotusium won't work, or at least not as well or as effectively as it ought to." She replied, tapping the chin of her mask as she considered the problem.

The problem was the fact that, being nuts, her patient just wasn't compatible with Lotusium. Lotusium was a formula that the Dread Doctors had perfected over the years, one that when placed on the neck of the subject, soaked through the skin, into their central nervous system and overrode their entire brain function, making them essentially puppets for the Dread Doctors. Very helpful, and it had been used to great effect over the years. However, as she pointed out, as her current subject was insane, clinically in fact, that was of little use to them in this regard.

But this man was far too valuable a resource to waste, and she had always abhorred waste. Perhaps the Surgeon could be of help to her.

"Dr Valack," she asked into the intercom as she looked at the diseased mind of her patient, which on the surface, looked no different than any other, "I wonder if I could borrow your expertise for a minute?"

"I would be delighted to help my dear, I shall be there presently." Valack responded, and she smiled, and figuring her current patient wasn't going anywhere, she swept over to where Urbaniak was working on his patient.

"You're a bunch of sickos!" Hayden spat furiously, and Urbaniak clucked his tongue in disappointment.

"Come now Hayden, haven't we had this conversation? After all, we're feeding and watering you, and we're even keeping you alive, after all as I'm sure you're aware, your meds for your kidney transplant are extremely expensive, and you have been our guest for some months now." He reasoned, and she glowered at him, straining against her restraints.

"My sister is going to find me, and when she does…" she began, only to be cut off by Turnbull.

"You have been missing for over a month. If your sister is even still looking for you, which to me is unlikely as you're a rather unpleasant little brat, unless she can somehow find our hidden underground base and develop a private army that she will need to overcome Ouroboros, I feel we're rather safe from you sister. The sooner you accept that your little fairy tale isn't going to come true the better off you'll be." She retorted, and Hayden did go silent, yet still continued to glare at the Geneticist.

"Now, isn't that better Hayden? Hmm, I wonder doctor, do you share my curiosity in my experiment?" Urbaniak asked, leaning close to Turnbull and whispering into her ear, and she felt her face morph into a cold smile as he explained his plan.

"Yes actually, I'd say proceed doctor. After all, once we have wiped out the entirety of their species, we need to find something to keep ourselves occupied." She purred, and he chuckled as Hayden blanched in fear.

"What the hell are you doing to me for months, you've been pumping me full of crap for weeks!" she shrieked, and Urbaniak nodded, conceding the point as he paged for another specimen to be brought to him.

"Indeed I have Hayden, you see, I've been curious on how my many concoctions would affect a transplant patient like yourself, but you see, I'm rather running out of ideas for what to do with you. I've tested many of my poisons on you, but at the end of the day, you are, despite being a genetic chimera, a human. But the fact remains, you have a kidney that is not your own. As Dr Turnbull attests, we need something to do after we've exterminated the whole bally lot of the supernatural. And you provide the perfect opportunity for another interesting study. Ah, Dr Valack, and our other guest." Urbaniak said as Valack, who seemed to have offered to take the test subject off the hands of the guards, entered, shoving the woman in front of him

She had been in their custody for quite some time, a woman from Honduras, she had been captured by Urbaniak at one of their satellite facilities, the ones they retreated to after the heat got too much before they reconvened at their main bases, of which Beacon Hills is the primary. Her name was Martina, and she had been the Directive's guest for years. She was extremely thin, emaciated in points, her long black hair had long since greyed, and looked quite gaunt and sunken.

"Good morning doctor, doctor." Valack said, shoving Martina towards Urbaniak who grabbed her by the wrist, ignoring her warning growl as he did so.

"What sort of study?" Hayden demanded as Urbaniak dragged Martina towards her, and sensing what was about to happen, Martina started digging her heels in, growling in anger, verging on panic as Urbaniak dragged her forwards.

"An interest of mine my dear girl, you see, I'm curious as to the effect of the bite on a transplant victim such as yourself. For example, the bite improves many problems with the human body, but as you have a foreign kidney, I'm interested to discover whether having the bite will help or hinder your reaction to the transplant. Will the bite poison your donated kidney? Will it help it become integrated into you better? You see my curiosity?" he asked mildly, as Martina tried to claw him only for him to backhand her with his armoured hand, crashing her to the ground, and then grabbed her by the hair, the woman struggling in his grip.

"No, I don't! Let her go, leave her alone!" she snapped, struggling at her bonds as Urbaniak drew Martina closer to her.

"Don't worry child, he will get what is coming to him." Martina assured him, and she snarled as he reached over the back of her head, jerking open her mouth as he did so.

Hayden continued trying to struggle, desperate to break free as Martina's fangs were bared by the grip Urbaniak had over the back of the older woman's head. Martina was giving a sort of keening growl as he shoved her towards Hayden, still thrashing on the table.

"No, don't do this, please!" she screamed as Martina, with Urbaniak's two fingers prying her jaw open, was brought to bear against her.

Martina was struggling in the Pathologist's grip, her growling becoming a keening roar, but with his two fingers prying her jaw open and his arm guiding her from the back of her head, he shoved her down, and Hayden screamed as Martina's fangs pierced her skin, and Urbaniak then jolted her head forward, completing the biting motion on his defenceless patient as the impotent Nagual was forced to bite the girl against her will.

Hayden shrieked as blood rushed down her hand, and Urbaniak let go of Martina's head. The older woman stumbled, sending a desperate look of apology at Hayden before her eyes glowed green, and with a savage roar, her claws extending, she span, pouncing towards Urbaniak, only to come to a sudden stop as a spike, extended from his wrist, emitted from her neck. Martina gave a wet gurgle as she crumpled to the floor, Hayden screeching in terror and horror, as Urbaniak shrugged as used a cloth to clean the blood off his spike.

At his feet, Martina's body convulsed a couple of times as rivulets of mercury leaked from her eyes, nose, ears and mouth before the Nagual went still, and Hayden also stopped struggling, trying to process the woman's horrific death as Urbaniak stalked towards her.

"Well, my dear, as you saw, she was a Nagual, a werejaguar. I am curious to see how you are affected by the bite, what with your transplant. Fascinating, don't you think?" he asked her excitedly, and she looked up at him, quaking in terror, her arm soaked with blood, but her face morphed into a furious scowl, and she spat at him.

Urbaniak sighed, bored, and punched Hayden in the face, knocking her clean out, shaking his head as he turned to his colleagues.

"I don't know, kids today, you give them the world, and they still throw it back at you. May I be assistance doctors?" he asked, crossing to Turnbull and Valack, who had watched his experiment curiously before returning their attention to Turnbull's patient on the table before them.

"I daresay we can find a use for you. Hmm…" Turnbull mused as Urbaniak looked curiously at Valack, his head cocked to the side.

"How did your experiment go?" he asked with interest, and despite the fact that his face, like his compatriots, face was hidden by his death mask, they could practically taste the excitement coming off him, indeed there was a slight glow coming from the hole in his mask that housed his third eye.

"Most fascinating, I'll be happy to catch you both up and hear your thoughts over a spot of lunch, but before that, we have this engaging chap to deal with. Penelope?" he asked, peering into the patient's open skull, as she wiggled her fingers over her surgical equipment table, before choosing an appropriate utensil.

"I have an idea, inspired by your own experiment Simon. But I'll need your help boys. Then, if it works, lunch, my treat. Ah, that's the specimen vial I need." She mused, crossing to their vast collection of DNA strains and examples from the various creatures they had experimented on in their years of doing this, and both the other doctors peered with interest at the vial.

"Ah, I see, intriguing idea. Simon, if you would hold open his skull, allow me to shine a bit more light on the subject," Valack said, adjusting the light above the table as Turnbull bent down, syringe and scalpel in hand, "now, let us venture into the unknown. After you Penelope."

And the three Dread Doctors all began their newest operation, while Martina's mercury riddled body went cold, Hayden's cells began to change, and William Barrow, the Shrapnel Bomber, went under the knife.

XX

Braeden frowned as she looked around Morrell's apartment. She had been concerned for weeks, but now, her concern had evolved into worry. Morrell had vanished not long after Agravaine had been defeated, and at the time, Braeden had assumed that her Emissary mentor had vanished to go and locate her brother and make sure he was alright after Scott had banished him from the town.

However, she hadn't been seen since, much like Deaton, and now, Braeden was officially worried about her mentor. Morrell couldn't really be considered friendly, warm, or bubbly in any way, shape or form, but she wouldn't be incommunicado this long if she'd had any choice. Braeden hadn't heard from her, in fact, nobody had, and surely checking on Deaton wouldn't have lasted this long, at least not without informing either the school or Eichen where she was?

It would be different if she had settled her accounts and given up her jobs, but she hadn't, it was like she had planned to come back, she just hadn't. And that was worrying. Hell, in a place like Beacon Hills, it was downright alarming.

Braeden frowned as she considered the problem, wondering what her next move should be, when something caught her eye. The post that Morrell had received had all been stored in a neat stack by Braeden during her various visits to her mentor's apartment to see if she could divine anything about her travel plans. However, the letters were no longer in a neat stack, they'd been splayed out, fan style.

Wondering what sort of depraved nutjob would rather have the mail fanned out as opposed to being in a neat, orderly pile, she crossed to the table she had put them on, frowning. Interesting, other than the letters, there was no other sign of anything having been changed or even affected at all, but the letters themselves were a sign that somebody other than her had been inside Morrell's apartment.

And as the apartment still didn't seem lived in, and there was no other signs of habitation, that left only one other possibility, as a thief would have ransacked the place: that whoever else had been here had a key.

Which meant that the other visitor could only be one person.

Deaton was back in Beacon Hills.

Oh, that was going to make the pack's day, she mused tiredly, locking the apartment tightly, and wondered just what their former, disgraced Emissary was up to this time.

XX

The group chat had finally gone silent as Isaac, Camden and Rakaisha shared a meal with Camden's old friend Blaine in their loft.

"So you've got a job then?" Camden asked with interest, passing his old buddy a beer, and Blaine nodded, tucking his long curly hair behind his ear.

"Yeah, sort of security work for a private firm, but it pays pretty good. How about you? I know some of the other guys from the old squad have been struggling." He said, watching with amusement as Isaac and Kaisha were bickering over who would get the spare flatbread they were having with their tagine.

"I got lucky, Isaac's…ex," he said, flashing a look at his younger brother, who, as the whole pack still did, flinched a little at the mention of Allison, "her father has an arms dealership, quite high end. Isaac and him got close after Allison died, and when I came back, he offered me a job." He explained as the other two served dinner.

"I'm sorry about your ex." Blaine said kindly as they sat down, and Isaac nodded thankfully.

"Thank you. She was Scott's ex too." He told him, slightly amused, and Blaine shot him a funny look.

"Wait, so you both dated the same girl then hooked up yourselves?" he asked, and Isaac smirked and nodded, and began to explain the whole story.

Later they were all sitting in the living area, the dishes having been cleaned manually by Camden and Blaine when Blaine started suddenly, looking out the window, reaching for a hold out gun inside his boot.

"Someone's climbing up your fire escape." He growled in warning, and Isaac and Kaisha's eyes briefly flashed their supernatural colours, as Camden also prepared to reach for his own gun, until he saw the unmistakable form of his brother's boyfriend, clad in a hoody and clambering up, likely towards Isaac's room.

"Um, Aye-Aye?" he asked pointedly, with a small, amused grin, and Isaac rolled his eyes, though he did look amused.

"I'll go let him in."

"So, he's his boyfriend but doesn't come in the front door?" Blaine asked, chuckling as Isaac headed towards his room.

"Well, he made a slightly unfortunate choice this morning, he probably didn't think Isaac would let him in, he kidnapped another kid." Kaisha giggled.

"WHAT?"

Allowing his future sister-in-law to explain his boyfriend's many oddities to Blaine, Isaac headed into his room, wondering just exactly when he had fallen in love with this adorable doofus of his. He also briefly pondered why, but he knew the reason, there were loads after all. Didn't stop Scott being an idiot, but he mused with affection, he was his idiot.

He flicked on the light and crossed to the window, sliding it open just as Scott managed to pull himself upright after shimmying along the fire escape, standing upright and finding himself looking right into his boyfriend's face.

"Hi!" he said hopefully, as Isaac smiled.

"What are you doing here, and why are you climbing up the fire escape?" he asked patiently, noticing that it was starting to snow slightly, but Scott, so far, seemed unperturbed by this.

"Well…I was a little worried that you wouldn't let me in if I came in the front door. Was I wrong?" he asked, affecting a slight pout, and Isaac shook his head, took Scott's slightly uneven jaw in his hand and pulled him closer, kissing him, because mad at him as he might have been, he had missed him today.

"I'd have let you in…eventually. Come in you idiot, before you freeze, it's starting to snow again." He ordered, and Scott's expression lit up happily, but before Isaac could step aside to let him in, Scott reached in and gently pulled him towards him, pressing their lips together passionately as he did so, Isaac moaning a little as Scott hungrily pressed his lips against his own, the snow starting to dust down around them.

Reluctantly they pulled apart, and this time, Isaac moved aside and helped Scott in, and Scott gave a little shudder of pleasure at being inside from the cold, he hadn't realised it was meant to snow when he had left the house. While he preferred the home field advantage when they stayed in his room, since Isaac had moved in with Cam, Scott did enjoy coming here and spending the night in Isaac's room (yet he still wound up being the one cuddling Isaac).

Isaac's room was much homier looking than his room the floor above had been when he had lived with Derek, which Scott had only been in the once when he had come to get stuff for Isaac after Derek had thrown him out. Putting the repentant, formerly rebellious pack members to work following Agravaine's defeat, the pack had also been put to work helping decorate Cam's loft and making it fit for human habitation (Liam had been in charge of all the little nooks and crannies).

His room was decorated with warm beige like colours, with bright white furniture. His furniture was adorned with various pictures including of his mother, him with Camden and Rakaisha, one with him, Scott and Melissa, and ones with other pack members, and also ones with just him and Scott in it, including one from their visit to San Diego. His art supplies were in one corner, opposite the corner with his bookcase in it, filled with various books and comics. His large bed, complete with the comfy mattress of the same sort Melissa had got after the fire was anchored against the wall, pointing towards his TV and games console. It wasn't Scott's room, but it was a perfectly nice place to spend the night, especially with his boyfriend.

"So, what did your mom make you do after you kidnapped Liam?" he asked with a slight grin, looking at Scott who groaned and kicked his shoes in embarrassment

"I haven't looked at the group chat all day, I figured when it was going off that I was in for the mother of all roastings. Anyway, mom made me and Stiles fix the garage, and warned me that if I kidnap anyone again, I'm getting neutered, and she promised to do the same to Stiles. She might have stopped me seeing you, but since you were on her side," he teased, while Isaac grinned, "She took pity on me."

"Course I was on her side, you kidnapped a kid out of the hospital you moron! And for the record, that's the second time you've kidnapped someone. What the hell was going through your head?" Isaac asked, his eyebrow quirked as he laid down on the bed, and Scott shrugged before kicking his shoes off and climbing onto the bed beside him, fiddling with his hands.

"I panicked, he had just woken up and had started to freak out, and started realising what I'd done to him, what I'd made him. He was panicking, so I panicked, I didn't want to Alpha him, he was freaking out…" he protested, and Isaac snorted in amusement.

"So instead you knock him out and kidnap him?" he asked wryly, and Scott sighed, nodding.

"Yeah, that oddly enough seemed a better idea at the time. I didn't want to freak him out more than he already was, and kind of got it…wrong. I only wanted to be a good Alpha, and I messed it up!" he protested, and Isaac sighed, taking Scott's chin in his hand and turning him to face him.

"Scott, you are a good Alpha, you recently proved that when you beat Agravaine. You are a good Alpha, all of us are a testament to that. But kidnapping him maybe not the best Alpha move. Nor," he said in a teasing voice, and Scott groaned, "was telling him that the bite is a gift, and that you're brothers now. That's more Derek's thing, and I think we can agree, he was kind of useless as an Alpha. You don't need to be like Derek you idiot, you're you. Stop trying to be someone you're not, and be you, dumbass. Albeit, I'd rather you be you without the kidnapping charges," he said in a voice of determined patience, "but just be you. Liam already hero worships you, you don't need to Alpha him or anything. Just don't kidnap him, and you me and Stiles can help the kid together…god he's doomed." He mused, and Scott laughed, yeah, the kid was kind of screwed with two and half werewolf dads.

There was a knock at the door, and Isaac reluctantly got up from the bed and pulled Scott through to go and socialise now that they had put the unfortunate kidnapping incident aside, for now anyway, and they went through to socialise and to let Scott meet Blaine properly when there wasn't party music blaring in his ear.

"So has Liam forgiven you?" Camden asked teasingly, as he opened another beer to give to Blaine, and Scott nodded, though blushed red as he did so.

"Yeah, thankfully he and Garrett were both very understanding that I freaked out. How bad is the group chat, Isaac didn't say?" he asked nervously, and Camden winked.

"Oh I don't think I want to ruin the surprise, you're going to have so much fun when you go back to school on Monday." He teased, and Scott groaned, kneading his forehead with the heel of his hand.

"So you have a job then? Cam said he was going to ask if Argent could fit you onto his books if you didn't have anything." Kaisha explained, sipping her wine, and Blaine nodded.

"Yeah, it's a private gig but it seems, alright I suppose, keeps a roof over my head anyway. Who is this Argent guy?" Blaine asked curiously, just as there was a knock at the front door.

"Stiles?" Kaisha sighed in a bored voice, but Scott shook his head.

"Shouldn't be, he'd hiding from his dad's wrath, mom snitched. Anyway, he has a key." Scott told her, and she sighed a little, rubbing her temples with a finger before turning to Isaac.

"I thought you took it off him?" she asked in a bored voice, and he made a noise of protest.

"I did! The weird little freak has keys to everywhere!" he complained, he'd even ambushed Stiles in the middle of the night to terrify him into giving up the key he had somehow acquired to the loft (he suspected he had swiped Scott's to copy) but it had only seemed to spur the little freak on.

"You have some very…unique friends." Blaine said to Isaac, who groaned and was forced to agree.

Camden opened the door, and to their surprise, actually revealed Argent on the other side.

"That's Argent." Scott told Blaine helpfully, who nodded, waving to Argent in greeting.

"Welcome home." Camden said, beckoning him inside, and Argent gave Scott his customary look of mingled respect and disdain, making Isaac smirk.

"Scott."

"Mr Argent."

"I'm sensing some hostility there." Blaine whispered to Kaisha, who smiled as she sipped her wine.

"Yeah, Scott was his daughter's first love. Isaac was her second, and he likes Isaac a lot more He's made it perfectly clear he'd love nothing more than to shoot Scott a bit" she explained cheerfully, and Blaine looked at her incredulously as Argent collapsed onto the seat beside them, shaking hands with Blaine as Camden introduced him while passing Argent a beer.

"This poor guy is getting a hell of a learning curve." Scott muttered into Isaac's ear, who sniggered.

They made small talk and chatted, with Argent getting to know Blaine, who he said he could still possibly find a job for if he wanted it, and eventually Blaine, now weaving as he walked, headed for home, allowing them to turn their attention back to Argent.

"Aren't you home early?" Isaac asked anxiously, and he nodded, looking grim.

"Well, my business was concluded, but I got a phone call from Maggie, warning me that an unsavoury character by the name of Crockett could well be in town, he's a poacher, a hunter who hunts for money. I came back to warn you all and to make sure he doesn't try anything." He explained, and Scott sighed, he'd forgotten Argent wasn't in the group chat.

"Boy have you missed a lot, we better catch you up." He told him, praying that his boyfriend would take pity on him and neglect to mention the little kidnapping incident.

Naturally, they didn't, and while Argent was now caught up on recent events, he too was inordinately amused by Scott kidnapping his newly bitten Beta out of the hospital, and proceeded to torture him mercilessly about it.

XX

"I am not shooting Liam!" Isaac protested in a low voice as he, Scott, Liam and Garrett headed deep into the preserve early the next morning, traversing over the frost hardened ground, hopefully far away from anyone who would question Werewolf 101.

Scott gestured at Liam, who was slightly further up ahead with Garrett, both of them chatting animatedly and clearly none the worse for Garrett's role in convincing their parents to save his brother's life by having Scott bite him.

"We need to train him honey, you said so yourself, which means everything, including evading hunters. I don't like it much myself, but he's got a chance we didn't have: being taught everything we need to know before it's too late, and he starts getting shot at by every Tom, Dick and Harry who comes to town to try and kill us." He explained in an undertone, and Isaac muttered under his breath, he had to admit, that was a good point.

"Speaking of, now we need to look into the flying thing, and this Crockett guy Argent warned us about as well. We should have told them all by now anyway." He hissed under his breath, and Scott was forced to agree, but then indicated Liam, slightly further ahead.

"True, but him trying to get himself killed kind of drove it from our minds, didn't it? Anyway, it'll be fine, Argent is investigating Crockett and his possible appearance in town with your brother, we're training Liam, Malia is with Jackson and Melody trying to find out any more info about what attacked Liam, and Lydia is with mom studying the flying thing, what did you say it was?" he asked, taking a look around, fairly certain they were far enough away from anyone that they could train Liam in peace.

"A Popobawa provided I got the right entry in the bestiary, and it likes to go round anally raping it's victims." He explained with false cheer, not having divulged that little tidbit of the lore before now, and he smiled a little as Scott let out a menacing growl.

"It better not try anything, especially with you. Your ass is, well, mine." He grumbled petulantly and Isaac smiled and kissed his cheek as the two younger kids turned back to face them.

"How come Stiles got out of Werewolf 101?" Garrett asked curiously, Scott noticing that for a walk in the woods to train his brother, Garrett seemed rather overprepared with two knives, knuckle dusters and a gun, and Scott grinned.

"He's a bit busy hanging out with Neo." He explained, and Liam grinned.

"Yeah, I wonder if he'll have more luck convincing Neo of his…attributes than you did with Isaac, you know, I'm actually a little offended that you two morons were able to kidnap me." He mused in a teasing voice, and Scott went scarlet while Isaac and Garrett sniggered.

"Admittedly it wasn't my finest hour, and I am sorry. So, let's get started, ok?" he asked, looking around the clearing and nodding, satisfied by what he saw.

Isaac frowned a little as he also noticed something, then rolled his eyes, for god sake, what was Scott's approach here, have everyone else traumatise the kid so him doing it didn't seem as bad?

Liam looked at his Alpha attentively while Isaac chivvied Garrett out of the way, allowing Liam to stand in front of Scott, looking at his new Alpha.

"Ok, look I know this isn't what you anticipated at all Liam, and know you never asked for this, but…" Scott began, and Garrett looked at him desperately.

"But we couldn't face losing someone else we care about, I couldn't face it either, so, you know…" he mumbled, and Liam cocked his head to the side.

"I told you, I don't blame you guys! I'm alive, which if Scott hadn't bitten me, wouldn't have happened. Him kidnapping me aside, I swear I'm alright!" he insisted, and Scott looked at him, his face clouded, but he nodded reluctantly.

"Ok. Now, you know some of what being a werewolf entails, but there's a whole lot more to it. You get stronger," Scott told him as he started pacing round him, and to illustrate the point Isaac picked up a large thick branch and snapped it in two like a piece of spaghetti, "faster," he told him, and Liam watched in interest as Isaac threw one half of the sticks and quickly ran across the field to catch it before it landed on the ground, "you get better reflexes," Scott said, as Garrett threw one of his knives at Scott who promptly snatched it from the air without even turning and looking which made Liam gulp, intimidated, "you get more durable as you've already shown, Garrett, don't you dare shoot me!" Scott snapped testily, as his helper who he had recruited was looking a little too excited at levelling his gun at his Alpha, who grinned sheepishly as Isaac raised an eyebrow at him, "you heal faster as you've also shown, and your instincts get better." Scott told Liam, and Scott could smell Liam in a way he never had before he was exhilarated, excited, though also slightly terrified.

Good, Scott thought with amusement, smiling a little and gesturing to his boyfriend with his head to allow him to take over.

"But it isn't all good. Not every Alpha who'll try to kidnap you is as sweet as this moron," he said, pointing to Scott, who looked slightly offended while Garrett disguised as laugh as a cough, "other packs could target you, simply because you're Scott's bitten Beta. Electricity is lethal to us, trust me, I know," he told him, and Liam gulped as Scott shuddered at the memory, "loud noises and bright flashes can severely disorientate us because of our heightened reflexes. These are things that hunters use to corral werewolves," he told him, extracting one of Argent's sonic emitters and turning it on, Liam wincing as he did so, "and as you know from the Calaveras there are plenty of hunters out there who aren't nearly as decent as Argent. Hunters are one of our main predators, and while Argent does look out for us, he can't protect us all the time. They use flash bangs, like we use, but there's a reason we always make sure our eyes are shut when we set them off. Hunters will use any weapon they can to overcome a werewolf, particularly a maniac like Argent's father, Gerard, and with any luck, you'll never encounter that sociopath," Isaac snarled darkly, to which Scott felt his heart rate accelerate at the thought of Gerard getting his hands on his Beta, "but emitters, flashbangs, electricity, all of them are their weapons. But most dangerous to us, in some ways anyway, is wolfsbane. It can be used to poison us, to weaken us, and above all, to kill us. But that isn't the only thing they use. Bullets, even normal ones, can hurt us just as much as humans. But the real sadists, like Gerard, have their own little fascination," he told him darkly, extracting one of his knives, and levelling it at the Beta, "they like to slice us in two to make sure we're extra dead. They hunt us for different reasons: some because some werewolves are dangerous, but ones, like Natasha, because they like the hunting, others like the Calaveras as they believe it's their mission, and then ones like Gerard, who's mission it is in life to eradicate each and every single one of us. They will use poison, bullets, emitters, explosives, herd us into traps so they can murder us, and you being so young, that won't matter to a lot of them." He explained grimly, and Liam shuddered, but Isaac squeezed his shoulder reassuringly as Scott took over again.

"But there are other things you have to know. You are now a part of the pack in a much different way than before, and you're also my only bitten Beta, which makes you different from all the others. We'll always be here if you need us, for anything, advice, help, protection, you name it, we've got you." Scott told him kindly, and Liam's frightened expression measured out a bit and he looked much more reassured as his Alpha squeezed his shoulder.

"And there's something else, the full moon. Obviously, it has a massive effect on you all, as werewolves," Garrett explained, coming over to stand beside his brother, "but fortunately, we've got a couple of weeks till your first full moon."

"Which is also different for you. The full moon is when our strength is at it's highest, we're at our strongest. But we're also at our most violent and dangerous, bloodthirsty, and our emotions are extremely hard to control. You've got that problem in spades, as your IED will make you even more likely to lose control, but we'll be with you all the way. We won't let you do anything you'll regret." Scott promised, and Liam looked at him anxiously.

"But if my IED goes out of control…" he mumbled, and Scott nodded, his warm brown eyes looking at Liam in understanding.

"I know, it isn't easy, it never is. Anything can set you off, one of my first full moon's, Allison had pissed me off, so had Stiles, so I was a colossal jerk and made out with Lydia to get back at them both. It makes you do things you wouldn't usually do, and your IED means you'll be a bigger risk than usual. But we'll help you learn control, we can help you control it." Scott told him, and Liam looked nervously at his Alpha.

"How do you control it?" Liam asked, and Isaac smiled slightly.

"You find your anchor, the thing that calms you down, humanises you, connects you enough with your humanity that you can bring yourself back." He explained, and Liam looked at him in confusion, then at Scott.

"What's yours?" he asked, and Scott shrugged a little.

"Mine is a little different because I'm the True Alpha, it means I can use my own force of will to overcome most of it. But originally it was Allison, now I can either do it myself, or if I'm really flailing, I think of…Isaac." He admitted, blushing a little, while Isaac also went red.

"Mine was originally my dad, you know, before he started abusing us. Now though, it's usually Scott." He admitted sheepishly, and Garrett rolled his eyes, shaking his head in dismay.

"You two are both so erotically co-dependent it's unreal. We'll work on it dude, we won't let you become like, you know, Peter." He assured him, and Liam shivered slightly.

"Can I change my mind?" Liam asked nervously, and Scott looked him directly in the eyes.

"I know it's daunting, and in the last two days you've nearly been murdered and now have to learn how to be a werewolf too, I know it isn't easy Liam. But we're with you, ok?" he promised, raising his hand and hesitantly, Liam clasped it, and while still looking terrified, he did give Scott an affirming nod.

"And it's slightly different for you too, since your first full moon is different from everyone else's, as it's the supermoon. That's when it's highest and biggest in the sky, so it'll be more intense than it usually is, everything will be that much harder to control." Isaac explained worriedly, and he and Scott exchanged worried looks, it wasn't great, but there was nothing that could be done about it, it was just their bad luck that Liam's first full moon would be perigee syzygy.

"Great." Liam complained, and Scott wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

"We've got you dude, don't worry. And you know what? Yeah, I complain about it, a lot, and obviously we've got a never-ending parade of wackjobs coming into town trying to kill us all, but part of me actually really enjoys being a werewolf. It's a small part admittedly," he told Liam in a earnest voice, "but part of me actually does enjoy being a werewolf. And it does get hard, I won't lie to you, with everything we've been through, sometimes it does seem soul destroying. But other times, it's pretty amazing." He told him sweetly, and Liam chanced a small smile.

"Ok…if you say so. So, where do we start?" he asked excitedly, and Scott grinned.

They started with Liam trying to exert some control over extending his claws and fangs. Scott worked closely with him, instilling Liam with a sense of confidence as he took his first steps into a world he had previously only heard about. Isaac and Garrett also helped, trying various techniques to trigger Liam to see what happened to control his transformation. Liam was an apt apprentice, and they slowly started to meld Scott's lessons in controlling his natural weaponry into sparring.

Thankfully, due to Martagh's teaching a few months previously, Liam was already ahead of the curve in that regard. Acrobatic, cautious, yet brutally offensive when he needed to be, Liam was clearly already learning how to improve his abilities at fighting to coincide with his new werewolf nature. He challenged Garrett first, a calculated risk on Scott's part, but he was pleased to see that when facing his brother Liam managed to hold back, so as not to rip his brother apart. Then when he challenged both Isaac and Scott, he could let loose a lot more. While strong, he was no substitute for experience. His acrobatic, powerful and punishing form would last well in most fights, but against Isaac's measured and precise fighting style, he was at a disadvantage as Isaac would exploit every hole Liam left in his defence when he made to attack the Prime Beta.

Scott on the other hand was different. While in some ways Liam's acrobatic and brawling fighting style was similar to Scott's, Scott had the experience and more reserved nature, allowing Liam to come close with his offensive and just merely held his Beta off before unleashing his own offensive, which Liam could barely stand against. Furthermore, when Scott changed to his more measured and simplistic fighting style, he was easily able to overcome Liam when he got too close. However, despite being defeated by the two highest ranked werewolves of the pack, and despite falling on his rear as it happened, Liam's face blossomed into a smile as he actually managed to claw Scott on the way down, having extended his claws of his own volition for the first time.

"That was great Liam!" Scott encouraged, helping his Beta up, who smiled proudly while Isaac's eyes flicked over to the trees, nodding to himself as he did so.

"Thanks! What next?" he asked eagerly, and Scott pointed towards the trees, which cut off the deepest part of the preserve from the clearing they were currently in.

"Next, you run." Scott ordered, and nodding, Liam turned, his eyes glowing gold as he did so, and pelted off into the woods.

"Hey, wait up!" Isaac called as he and Scott dashed after the young Beta.

"Oh nice, leave the human behind, hey, wait for me!" Garrett yelled irritably, rushing after them.

Liam had never run like this before, but it felt amazing! He felt a strange urge to bend down and run on all fours, and to his surprise, when he did so, he got even fasted, stampeding across the cold, hard ground as he did so, his eyes glowing gold, his claws extending, this felt great, it felt so strange yet so freeing, it felt…

And then abruptly, out of nowhere, something leapt out at him from the side, catching the young Beta in a death grip and slamming him against a tree. Liam let out a guttural, snarling roar, his claws and fangs extending, eyes glowing gold as he staggered back to his feet, and sprang at his attacker, claws going for his face, his heart pounding in his chest as he did so. His attacker merely avoided his attempt at clawing him however, took him by the neck and pinned him against a tree.

Liam let out a vicious roar, struggling and wriggling to get free as he heard footsteps approaching, and then he heard Scott's calming voice.

"Liam…" Scott ordered softly, his voice echoing inside Liam's mind, and for the first time, Liam fully appreciated why Scott was such a great leader as he felt his heartbeat settle back to normal, his eyes faded and claws and fangs retracted, and without the adrenaline and rage driving him, he saw that his assailant was actually Derek, smiling (which was scary enough), rather proudly as he observed the young Beta.

"What the hell?" Liam demanded, squirming to try and get out of Derek's grip, and the oldest wolf merely let go, allowing Liam to fall back to the forest floor as Scott and Isaac emerged into the trees, Garrett still some way away, his face bright red as he struggled to keep pace with the three werewolves.

"You're right, he is angry. Which means we were right: he's going to be strong." Derek told Scott excitedly, and Liam looked at him incredulously, while Isaac shook his head.

"So it wasn't enough Scott kidnapped the kid out the hospital, now you've ambushed him while he's happily minding his own business?" he asked, bemused, and Liam looked at Derek irritably, and the older wolf shrugged.

"I had to test you, and Scott. He can bring you back at least." He told him, offering the young Beta a hand up, which he took while glaring at him.

"We had to see how easy it was for me to control your temper." Scott told him apologetically, and Liam shot him a perturbed look, while Isaac shook his head.

"Come on kiddo, I'll race you." He offered, and Liam grinned and pelted off, leaving Isaac spluttering in the dust.

"Hey!" Isaac protested grumpily, running after him, just as Garrett, now very out of breath and red in the face, sweat dropping down his forehead, sagged in dismay as he saw the other two wolves run off.

"Aww, come on!" he whined, took a deep shuddering breath and took off after them, leaving Scott with Derek in the thicket of trees.

"Did you have to be so rough?" Scott asked in a bored voice, and Derek shrugged.

"Hey, you asked me to test you both, so I did. But for what it's worth, you're going to be good at this." Derek told him with a proud smile, and Scott scoffed.

"Really, because I have no idea what I'm doing, less so than usual." He complained, and Derek grinned.

"Just be yourself, you know, without the kidnapping and stuff, he could do without that. I was watching before, you've got this Scott. Sure you don't need me to help train him some more?" he asked, and Scott pondered, but shook his head.

"No, I think we'll be fine. Besides, you've traumatised him enough for one day, it's Isaac's turn now." He said wryly, and Derek grinned.

"By the way, Braeden thinks Deaton might be back in town." He told him, and Scott groaned.

True, he did want to see his old boss again, if for no other reason than to clear the air. He wasn't so naïve that he thought Deaton could ever be the pack's Emissary, his pack would have his head on a spike if he tried. But he did want to see Deaton, to speak to him and put various matters to rest, and if he could do that without certain pack members finding out (specifically Stiles, Isaac and the more murderously inclined ones) but him coming back now was the last thing he needed.

"Great, what for?" he asked, and Derek frowned, looking uneasy.

"We think it's something to do with Morrell, she hasn't been seen since Agravaine died. Braeden's been busy with work, and she wasn't sure if Morrell had just gone looking for Deaton after he left, but now she's starting to get worried." Derek explained, leaning against a tree with his arms crossed, and Scott nibbled his lip thoughtfully.

Truth be told, he was getting more concerned himself. The attack on Liam, the Popobawa, the disappearances, this Crockett character apparently in town, it was like, he didn't know, like a sort of proxy war, the skirmishes that happen before a war properly breaks out. But something rotten was stirring in Beacon Hills, and he knew it had to be coming for the only game in town: them.

"Beginning to think we need a pack conference, tonight, could you spread the word please?" Scott asked, and seeing his Alpha's furrowed brow, Derek nodded.

"Ok, sure. I'll check with Braeden so she can catch you guys up too. Now, I'm away to do some stuff." Derek announced, and it sounded so out of place that Scott raised an eyebrow.

"What sort of stuff?" he asked curiously, and Derek growled in annoyance.

"Fine, I'm away flower shopping if you really must know, as a welcome home present for Braeden. The twins put me up to it!" he insisted as Scott grinned, "but it does seem a good idea, so, yeah. Tell anyone, I'll throw your new puppy down a well."

Scott grinned all the wider at the threat as Derek slouched off towards town, allowing him to shake his head in amusement, Derek was so amusing when he was pretending he didn't care when he obviously really did. Thinking it actually had been a godsend that Derek had taken the twins in after the fight with Agravaine as having two hyperactive werewolf twin roommates had certainly helped him loosen up, he headed to go and find the others, including his puppy that Derek had threatened to throw down a well…damn it, Liam being called his puppy was going to stick wasn't it?

Vowing not to let Stiles hear that one (he had come up with the idea that Isaac was actually Scott's queen, which had led to a less than friendly disagreement between Stiles and other pack members), he emerged through the trees to see Isaac was putting Liam through his paces, using several of Argent's emitters to teach him the dangers of being herded (Garrett seemed to be passed out, or at least extremely tired as he was lying and the vapour around him likely could have filled a sauna as he sweated in the cold morning air).

Smiling ruefully, and vowing to put them all through training runs when lacrosse practice started again when they went back to school on Monday, he headed over to join them, casting a half eye over his neophyte hunter to check that he was, to his relief, still breathing.

"How you getting on?" Scott asked as he approached Liam and Isaac, wincing at the noise coming from the emitters, and he breathed a small sigh of relief when Isaac turned them off.

"He's doing alright actually. I was about to see how well he'd get out of a herding trap actually, here, try him with the flashbangs while I go set them up." He told him, though he still didn't like the entire thing, but he did have to admit that it was necessary.

"You ok dude?" Liam called to Garrett, who raised a hand weakly and started moving in order to get back onto his feet.

As Garrett tried to recover his faculties, Scott threw a flashbang, closing his eyes and turning his head away as he did so. He briefly heard Liam give a pained snarl as he did so, hearing his Beta stumbling about as he tried to regain his senses.

"See what we mean? There are trade-offs," Scott called, and as he'd shut his eyes, he could see through the dispersing light much better than Liam, who he hadn't warned about throwing the flashbang, and he advanced towards him, "we're stronger, better, faster, but in some ways, we're weaker, more vulnerable. And if the hunters are coming after you, and catch you in a trap like this, you could be," he warned, his voice laced with concern for his Beta, "dead," he concluded, extending his claws against Liam's neck, and he felt his Beta go stiff as he did so.

Liam growled a little as his senses returned, and rubbed his arms a little as he glared at his Alpha. He got it, he really did, he knew Scott and Isaac wanted to protect him, make sure he was alright, that he would be safe, but still, it was very intimidating. Not that he wasn't enjoying learning all this, but yeah, it was a lot to take in, all at once, and to realise how much danger he was in, something he suspected that Garrett and the others had downplayed when explaining the whole supernatural thing to his parents.

"I know it's a lot, Liam. Plus side, your girlfriend's dad likes you and isn't trying to kill you like mine was!" he told him brightly, and Liam sniggered, yeah, that was a bonus.

"You ready?" Isaac asked as he returned, and a slightly less red Garrett trotted over to join them, "now remember, if you encounter hunters and are attacked, hide and heal. Try and get word to us if you can, but you know, don't lead us into a trap," he pointed out, and Scott nodded.

"Yeah, we're quite good at walking into them all on our own." He admitted fairly, and Liam gulped as he nodded.

"But if hunters are trying to herd you into a trap, your instinct has to be to change the rules, to break out of the bottleneck they'll be forcing you into. Which is where my assault course comes in, head into the next set of trees, and try to get out. Good luck." Isaac told him, and steeling himself, Liam headed off into the next patch of trees.

Liam edged into the trees, alert for any signs of Isaac's traps. He could hear the sonic emitters, the noise piercing through his ears as he edged further into the trees. He had to avoid them, right. He sniffed, trying to discern Isaac's scent through the trees, but he was new at this, he didn't know how to track scents yet. Giving it up as a bad job, he pushed forward, wincing in pain as the pitch of the emitters got louder. Doubling back, he headed away to the side, away from where the pitch of the emitters was loudest. He crept forward cautiously, alert for any sound, but with the noise of the emitters, it was quite hard to concentrate. He crept forward and felt a ping as he stepped forward, yelping in alarm as a cable snapped shut round his ankle which then hoisted him into the air, upside down.

Cursing his luck, Liam focused, extending his claws and slicing at the cable hanging him from the tree, which he immediately regretted as he fell unceremoniously back to the ground in a heap. Cursing his werewolf teachers, he jumped up and advanced forward, keeping a more mindful watch on the ground beneath his feet, and listening intently. Ok, this wasn't so bad, he could kind of differentiate the emitters, so all he had to do was avoid those right?

Wrong apparently, as a noise started to blare, coming from a different direction and Liam cursed, stumbling away from the motion sensor alarm he had triggered, but that didn't help much, as he had now inadvertently headed back towards the emitters. He let out a small growl as he stumbled over another trip wire, landing on the hard ground, and cursed both Scott and Isaac, and after a second pondering, cursed Garrett too, he'd promised their parents he would look out for him!

Liam shook his head, no, they weren't doing this to torture him (well, he wasn't so sure about Derek) but Scott and Isaac were trying to train him, and Garrett wanted him to be safe (though that may be a fear that every time he tried to score with a girl their parents would force him to take Liam). And he wasn't going to let them down. Pulling himself up, he could almost imagine Scott crouching down with a small, rueful smile, offering Liam his hand to help him up. He could almost imagine Stiles fretting behind Scott, making sure he was alright. And he could imagine Isaac doing the actual act of checking him over, either hugging him or patting his shoulder, or ruffling his hair as he made sure he was fine, and the three of them would encourage him on.

This was weird, right?

It might be weird, but he felt…connected, he supposed was the right word for it. He could almost feel Scott and Isaac outside, fretting about him, and he knew Stiles would be doing the same thing if he was here. In some ways, despite being attacked and nearly killed by some random monster, he actually felt safer now as a werewolf than he ever had when he was a human. And they were counting on him to get this, and he wasn't going to let them down.

Shaking his head, he pushed through the din. Ok, so trip wires, check. Cable ties, check. Motion sensors, check. Sonic emitters, check. That was what he had to get through, and get through to the other side of the trees. Liam growled to psych himself up, his eyes glowing gold as he did so, and he began to edge through the trees, alert for any sign of Isaac's traps.

He pressed on, skirting the emitters and their sound barrier, while carefully avoiding the cable ties and trip wires that Isaac had set up. Motion sensors dotted various trees, but now that he had the idea, he found it fairly easy to avoid them, though had to climb a tree, a novel experience as a werewolf he had to admit, and eventually, the trees started to thin, and with a last push, he burst through, out into another wide clearing.

"Yes!" he exclaimed excitedly, throwing his hands up in the air, his tshirt lifting under his tracksuit jacket as he did so.

"Great work squirt." Scott complimented, appearing from the trees, and Liam looked at him curiously, then looked at the trees in confusion.

"How did you get through there so fast; how didn't I hear you?" he asked in confusion, and Isaac jerked his head a little further away from the path that Liam had taken.

"I left a path for us to come through. What, I'm not that stupid." He protested in response to Liam's dirty look while Garrett and Scott looked away from each other to hide their grins.

"That's…never mind," Liam said, scowling as he did so, "how did I do?" he asked hopefully, and Isaac grinned.

"I'd say you did pretty good." He told him, and Liam beamed.

"And as a reward, Isaac gets to shoot at you." Scott said brightly, and both Liam and Isaac turned to look at him in disbelief.

"Wait, what?" Liam demanded in outrage, and Isaac shook his head defiantly.

"No way, I told you, I'm not shooting at him!" he protested, and Scott sighed and looked at them both.

"Look, I don't like it either, but I'd rather he learned how to evade stuff now, when it's someone friendly shooting at him rather than later when it's someone trying to kill him. I know Liam, but not all hunters are as nice, for want of a better word," Scott explained, looking a tad unconvinced, making Isaac smirk, "as Argent. And if Argent is right and this Crockett guy is in town, it's best you learn now, ok?" he asked softly, laying his hand on his shoulder, and Liam nodded begrudgingly.

"Ok, fine." He moaned in acquiescence, and Scott turned to look at Isaac.

"Nope, not happening, I'm not shooting him, not when you've already traumatised him!" he insisted, and Scott shot him a nettled look.

"Ok, fine, let me borrow your bow and I'll shoot at him then." He replied patiently, and Isaac looked affronted.

"Like hell am I letting you touch my bow, last time you tried it you almost shot Malia in the head!" he exclaimed, and Scott went scarlet as the two younger boys sniggered as they looked at the bickering pair.

"I didn't mean to! Besides, she wouldn't have been in my line of sight had you not been doing your trick and throwing a bit sausage for Apollo to chase when she's walking him so she gets dragged halfway up the road when he chases it!" he retorted, and Isaac went pink as the two younger boys exclaimed in delight.

"So, that's why Malia hates walking past your house when she walks the dog, you realise if she finds out that it's your fault he does that, she'll kill you, right?" Garrett pointed out, and Isaac glared at him.

"Shush you! Anyway, I'm not shooting at Liam!" he insisted, and Garrett shrugged, removing his gun and pointing it at his brother.

"I'll shoot at him then."

"What, no! I'm telling mom!" Liam whined, aware of how much like a child he sounded but really not caring at the moment.

"Look, you need trained, just run! And don't run in a straight line." Garrett told him, and glowering at his brother, Liam jetted off, weaving back and forth as he did so, making Garrett grin.

Meanwhile, unnoticed by the two younger boys, Scott and Isaac continued to bicker, not even realising Liam was now on the move until Garrett, figuring he could do this without actually endangering his brother, fired a blank into the air.

Both older boys flinched, their eyes glowing in alarm, their argument forgotten as they turned to look at Garrett and growled at him, and he simply winked as he fired into the air again.

Ahead of them, Liam was running full werewolf style, veering in different directions, weaving around and doubling back, in short, doing rather a fine job of avoiding the bullets and arrows and other such things he would likely have to avoid if he was under attack by hunters.

"See, this way, he isn't in danger, he still gets trained, everyone wins!" Garrett told them brightly, turning to the two werewolves, who had calmed down and nodded, admittedly, this was a better idea than actually shooting at him.

"That is a better idea, yeah." Scott admitted lamely, and Garrett grinned and shook his head as he looked at the two older boys.

"You know, I often wonder how you losers are even still alive, and now you're all disaster dads to a werewolf pup," he said, firing into the air again and gesturing vaguely at where Liam was running, and Scott grimaced, yeah, there was the puppy bit, that was going to stick now, "he's got no chance."

"Um, Kemosabe…where's your brother?" Isaac asked worriedly, and Garrett, who had been about to shoot another blank into the air, froze as the three of them looked out across the vast clearing.

In this, one of the deepest parts of the preserve, trees were dense and thick, and the clearing were few and far between, but this one was rather large, surrounded by trees on all sides, and considering it was such a large clearing, the fact that the three of them, from their slight vantage point and there was a small incline, couldn't see Liam was rather concerning.

"Liam? Oh god, they're going to murder me, I only got them to agree to let me take Liam out of the house because I said I wouldn't let him out my sight!" Garrett cried in terror, his parents were going to kill him!

"Did he head back into the trees?" Isaac asked, but Scott shook his head, and sniffed the air, leading the way across the clearing in a hurry to try and find the missing Beta.

After running across the clearing, Scott finally breathed a sigh of relief as he got Liam's scent, and also spotted breath vapour rising into the air from up ahead, thank god it was so cold this morning.

They hurried over, and stopped short as they found Liam looking up at them ruefully, surrounded by dirt on all four sides of a large hole that he seemed to have fallen into.

"I fell in a hole." He told them pitifully, and relieved to see his Beta in one piece, Scott grinned, and was about to crouch down to help the kid out of said hole when Isaac laid a hand on his chest.

"Um, Scott? That hole is pretty deep…and Liam might be short,"

"HEY!"

"But, to me, it looks like it's about six feet deep." He told him significantly as he looked at his boyfriend, and Scott looked back at him in concern, only for what Isaac was trying to tell him to twig inside his head.

"Wait, like a grave?" he asked with a hiss, and Liam, who was currently trying to scale the wall as he was getting fed up waiting for them to get him out, stopped short and looked up at Isaac in alarm.

"I'm inside a grave?" he demanded with a squeak, and scrabbled to try and get out the hole, and Scott and Isaac both crouched down to help him out, pulling up to their level and dusting him off, and after a cursory glance to make sure Liam was alright, to which Liam nodded reassuringly as he stood beside Scott, peering down into the hole anxiously, Scott turned back to Isaac.

"A grave?" he demanded again, and Isaac, his face clouded, nodded.

"Yeah, I think so, used to dig them for a living remember? This is a grave." He told him, and Garrett looked worriedly out across the clearing.

"And guys? It isn't the only one." He told them grimly, gesturing across the rest of the clearing, and to their horror they now saw numerous other holes in the ground, previously hidden by the angle they had been standing at on top of the incline, and what was more, there seemed to be numerous holes that were filled with fresh earth, as if they had recently been filled.

"Oh great, we're standing on top of a mass grave." Liam commented, subtly edging closer to Scott as he did so, and Scott groaned, yeah it looked like it.

"Yeah…we better call Stiles. And his dad. Looks like training is cancelled."

XX

The clearing was now filled with cop cars, scene of crime officers and numerous other cars had also appeared, including Stiles' jeep and Lydia's car, as Parrish and the sheriff interrogated the four boys who had discovered the mass grave to begin with.

"What happened to the days when you and Stiles would just build Lego in his room?" the sheriff lamented, and Scott shrugged, gesturing vaguely around at everything.

"Well, everything else just gets in the way." He replied, nettled, it would be nice to go back and just build Lego in Stiles' room again instead of finding mass graves while walking through the preserve.

"Do your friends discover dead bodies and mass graves often?" Neo asked hesitantly, Stiles had been showing him around when they had gotten the call from Scott about the mass grave, and despite Stiles' offer to drop him off, he had been happy enough to come with him to the mass grave, and was now looking on at the scene in morbid interest.

"Um, let me get back to you on that, hey, Lydia!" he called, spotting the Banshee and slipped away from Neo, with Ethan, who had come with Lydia and Aiden, slipping into the void to speak to the newcomer while Stiles talked to her.

"What?" she asked, frowning as she looked over the numerous graves.

There were at least twelve graves, five of which had been recently filled in, and the empty one that Liam had fallen into to begin with. As they had approached, she had started to hear a cacophony of whispers, which had started to climb in volume as they had gotten nearer to the grave site, and now that they were at it, there was a sort of dull scream echoing in her head.

"Ok, how did you not know about this?" he asked in an undertone, and she looked at him, she was having difficulty focusing, the voices in her head were so loud.

"What?" she asked again, shaking her head a little to try and clear it so she could focus.

"How didn't you know about this? You're the Banshee! It's your job to find the bodies!" he insisted, ignoring the low, warning growl that Aiden let loose from behind him.

"Yeah, well, the Banshee is having an off day. I don't know, I didn't even get a whisper until we started getting closer, I don't come out here, and no wonder, we're miles away from anywhere. But when we got closer I started to hear them, you know, voices." She told him, and Stiles frowned as he looked across the numerous graves.

"Sheriff!" Deputy Clark called, and the sheriff excused himself from finishing off Scott's statement and headed over, frowning as the SOCOs unearthed one of the graves.

"We felt you should see this." Strauss said significantly, pointing towards the grave, and the sheriff frowned as he peered down at what they had unearthed.

It was a teenage boy, clad only in underwear, and looked like he was quite emaciated even before he'd been put in the ground. Numerous marks chequered his body, but to Stilinski's consternation, it was the trickles of silvery liquid that seemed to have escaped from his nose, ears, eyes and mouth that concerned him, silvery liquid that seemed to have solidified.

"What the…" he muttered, and Parrish, who was coordinating it all, leaned in close.

"The SOCOs say it's mercury, if you can believe that. But that isn't all, that kid, it's Zack Farthing, one of the missing kids." He explained in an undertone so that Clark wouldn't hear, and the sheriff groaned, an innocent kid dead, but if they found one of the missing kids like this, their chances of finding the others alive and well had just plummeted drastically.

"You brought your date to a mass grave?" Garrett asked in a disbelieving undertone, and Stiles went scarlet and spluttered as they observed a morbidly curious Neo examining everything that was going on, and also trying to sneak a peek at whatever the sheriff and Parrish were currently up to.

"Lyd? What is it?" Aiden asked his girlfriend as she stood, gazing at the various graves now in the process of being dug up.

She edged forward, and scenting danger, Aiden looked anxiously over at Stiles, who used the opportunity to escape Garrett teasing him about bringing Neo to the grave site, and he came over, also looking concerned as he saw the way that Lydia was fixating on the graves.

"Lydia?" Stiles asked, his concern growing as she continued to gaze at them, the whispering, it was so hard to focus, she needed to stop it, but how…oh god.

"There's more graves." She whispered in horror, and both Parrish and Stilinski froze and turned to look at her, both of them annoyed, at least they were until they saw the look on her face.

"What, where?" Parrish asked worriedly, and she sighed, the voices made sense now, why there was so many, why they were so garbled.

"Under the current graves." She replied grimly, and both of the cops looked at each other and groaned.

"More dead bodies?" Parrish asked in an undertone, and the sheriff was suddenly beginning to get a very bad feeling about all this.

"Yeah, I'm not sure, but I think they might have been there for a while, the-" she began, and noticed Neo was a little close so leaned in closer to the two cops, "the voices are sort of muffled, like they're…buried."

Stilinski looked worriedly at the mass grave site the others had found, and had a horrible feeling that a lot of things were about to start making sense.

"Ok Lydia, we'll look into it. You kids better get out of here, this will take a while." He advised wearily, knowing that whatever else they might find, guided as they were by Lydia's visions, it wasn't going to be good.

Could it be they had discovered the resting place of the last poor people who had been kidnapped and disappeared over seventeen years ago? Was someone using this area as a dumping ground for all the missing persons, and if so, how many were they about to find? And if there were indeed other bodies to be found, how long had they been here?

"You know, I'm really starting to hate her." Stilinski muttered in an undertone, as Clark started shouting at Strauss about something, and he groaned, looked like she had discovered that the dead kid was one of the missing ones.

Leaving Parrish to go and assure her that no news was good news in this situation, which he really wished he believed, he looked grimly at the SOCOs as they did indeed start to dig deeper, darting grim looks in the sheriff's direction, essentially confirming what Lydia had said, and the sheriff shook his head.

Why did he have a horrible feeling what happened seventeen years ago was all interconnected with what was happening now? That the disappearances back then were a prelude, perhaps a dry run, of the ones happening now? And more importantly, if they were all connected, who was doing them, and why?

"More bodies? Are you sure?" Scott asked in an undertone as the pack members present, plus Neo, started to drift away from the mass grave site, and Lydia nodded.

She had thought, hoped even, that discovering that there were more bodies to uncover would help with the voices in her head, and shut them up. And in some ways, it had, but there was this new strain of whispering, like a mantra, but it was too damn quiet for her to hear yet, oh this was going to drive her fucking bananas.

Listen to the silence doesn't work, all the tricks Martagh had taught her weren't working, and Martagh had admitted that there were just some time when you just had to endure it till you discovered what it was about, and she reckoned, sadly, that this was one of those times.

"Yeah, maybe from all the disappearances last time. I don't like this, we better get out of here before anything else happens. Let's go, and maybe we should take our own routes back? Just in case." She warned, and Scott exchanged a dark look with Stiles, a chill running through them, but they knew better than to disagree, she had become quite sufficient in her powers after all, and Scott too had a sort of inkling, he'd had it since the police had showed up: that they were being watched, but by who, or what, he had no idea.

"Ok, you heard her, everyone split up. Text me when you get home, especially you two!" he called to Liam and Garrett who were already trotting off, and Aiden nudged him with his shoulder.

"Relax dude, it's still broad daylight, they'll be fine." He assured him, and Stiles smirked.

"Yeah, your puppy will be safe." He told him, and Scott groaned, that was it, that name was definitely not going anywhere now.

"How's Liam a puppy?" Neo asked curiously, as he'd been further back, chatting with Isaac, and Scott sent Stiles an annoying smile.

"Ask Stiles, come on Isaac." He told his boyfriend imperiously, who grinned and winked at Stiles who was now spluttering trying to think up some explanation for his new friend.

Here's part two, two to go!